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SMITH SOUNDTRACK CONTRIBUTION
Source: <Ananova>
Thanks to: <CountingDown>

A report from Ananova:

"Jada Pinkett Smith is working on a song for the soundtrack to The Matrix: Reloaded. Her husband, Will Smith, says she collaborated with him on his new album.

Will says Jada is working on the track at the studio at the couple's home. "I haven't been able to get her to sing away from the house," Will said. "She's not really comfortable with it yet." "


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THE PHILOSOPHY OF NEO
Source: <The Sunday Times>

Keanu Reeves talked about the philosophy behind his character Neo:

Reeves winces and often tugs at his hair, clearly pained by having to explain Neo's motivation - a messiah by default which, in many ways, echoes his own awkward approach to celebrity. The actor read the pre-existentialist philosophy of Nietzsche, the willpower theories of Arthur Schopenhauer and the empiricist teachings of David Hume to create Neo's mindframe.

"All of this is synthesised into 'how to be' and the kind of character Neo is in terms of how he views the world - in terms of how he asks questions," Reeves said. "He is always saying 'What is truth?' and he is searching for his life. He rejects fate and he doesn't want someone else's destiny. "In terms of an academic discussion, I don't have the facilities to do that. In terms of a contrast and compare - the Nietzsche in Superman, or Neo as reluctant hero or messiah - I can't do that. Larry Wachowski could do that. I can't do that."


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STORYBOARD IMAGES
Source: <Famous Frames>
Thanks to: <The Matrix Online>

Famous Frames displayed some new storyboard images from artist Derek Gogol. There are two below, for the rest, click <here> go to the pictures section. They're on page 6.






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NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON HELICOPTER STUNT
Sources: <The Daily Telegraph>, <The Australian>, <The Matrix Online>
Thanks to: <CountingDown>

Two news articles on the first flight of the helicopter...

From The Australian:

LIKE an old western movie, the streets of Sydney's CBD were eerily still yesterday as a chilly breeze swept through just before dusk. Then, (cue the techno soundtrack), a giant, silver helicopter came from above a high-rise office building and descended into the city streets, landing loudly in the middle of Martin Place like a scene out of a sci-fi movie.

It was indeed that, as cameras on board the chopper were filming part of a 14-minute action sequence for the multi-million dollar sequels to the Hollywood sci-fi film The Matrix.
The sequence included the scenes filmed from the helicopter's "space-cam" of an empty Castlereagh St. The chopper was on loan from the ABC, as was its pilot Gary Ticehurst, who manoeuvred the double-engine aircraft vertically up and down Martin Place and hovered below building height down other streets.
According to the film's location manager, Peter Lawless, Castlereagh St was chosen for filming because of its nondescript look.

About 1000 people had gathered to watch the highly publicised scene take place, many hoping to catch a glimpse of The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

From The Daily Telegraph:

The twin-engined Bell helicopter that transfixed shoppers in the city streets was being used for the Matrix sequels. The crowd gasped as the helicopter took shots of the canyon created by buildings along Castlereagh St and then flew around the top of buildings, zooming in here and there.
Keanu Reeves was not in attendance during yesterday's filming as the helicopter, borrowed from the ABC, hovered as little as 50m above their heads.

Martin Place between Pitt and Elizabeth Sts and Castlereagh St between Hunter and King Sts were blocked off from 3.30pm. More than a thousand people watched in awe behind barriers as the helicopter took off and landed on several occasions.
The shots will be used in the two sequels to The Matrix -- The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The chopper, carrying a camera fitted to its nose, was filming at dusk, but the scenes will look as if they were taken at night.
Producers in Martin Place had monitors and were able to instantly view the shots the pilot was taking. Location manager Peter Lawless said the streets could be made to look like any city in the world.

The Matrix Online posted the following images:








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LEAVING $150m IN THE SYDNEY ECONOMOMY
Source: <The Daily Telegraph>

Another article from the Daily Telegraph on what the shooting has meant for Sydney:

So this trilogy is an exercise in stretching capabilities. Few businesses have the means or the influence to shut down cities and galvanise disparate public agencies into coordinating such a stunt, let alone afford the insurance cost.
The Matrix Reloaded's production team is one of those businesses. It has dumped at least $150 million into the local economy in the past 12 months, creating more than 1000 jobs. Meanwhile, one insider suggests 200 people have been employed for more than two years. This compares with a standard film shoot which is usually completed within three months. "It's an industry," he says.

Yet the $600million production is more than just a boon to Sydney; it is creating a whole other web of hitech industries likely to generate multibillion dollar revenues. Already, The Matrix Reloaded is the most anticipated film on a number of film fan websites and the single biggest project that's ever been filmed here. Yet simultaneously, video games (for both console platforms and online) have been filmed in Sydney and source material for a TV series, a documentary, cartoon and comic books have been generated here.

Rather than being mere spinoffs, most of the ancillary projects are complementary, even integral, elements to the film. For example, the video game Enter The Matrix is believed to focus upon stars Jada Pinkett Smith and local actors Anthony Wong and Lachy Hulme. It alone is bigger than most Australian films.
A series of animated shorts, by some of Asia's most cuttingedge designers, for the internet and later a DVD titled Animatrix will possibly get a cinema release prior to May as mini "prequels" to The Matrix Reloaded.

Sydney has proved to be just the place to generate a film like The Matrix, which was given to the filmmakers with the strict instructions to produce "the best they could with a limited budget". "It was a remarkable situation [in 1998] for us, in that the studio gave us an amount of money to make the picture but [told us] 'We don't want you to skimp though'," Silver says.
"It was a great time -- there was great interest in the Australian tax system and the Government in general to help motionpicture production here," he says.

"Sydney is a city that's gone out quite deliberately, quite consciously, to secure itself a new industry," says NSW Premier Bob Carr. "We didn't have international movie making, certainly not on this scale, before 1997." Fortunately, the 2000 Olympics prepared the city for major logistical inconveniences The Matrix has given Sydney. While Mission Impossible II was a nice postcard, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolution use Sydney's CBD as an intrinsic part of "the matrix". "Sydney's getting a bit of a reputation for doing sophisticated and complex things," says the NSW Film and Television Office's Chief Executive Jane Smith.

The Matrix's current city shoot, shown on a computer simulation, passed through the Premier's Department Filming Roundtable with ease less than a month ago. The only hiccup has been the tension between the US producer and some departments that wanted a higher public profile for this month's filming.
The Roundtable, formed three years ago for such largescale film projects, included in this instance representatives of Sydney and North Sydney councils, the Police and Fire Departments, Road Traffic Authority, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Sydney Buses, State Rail Authority, Environmental Protection Authority, Film and Television Office and the Premier's Office.
While the fees might be sizeable, Smith contends "Sydney now has the capacity to do complex shoots with relative ease".

Exactly what this shoot will become won't be known until May or November next year when the sequels are released but precedent suggests something special. The reclusive Wachowski brothers have already given cinema the famed "bullettime" technology in which hundreds of still images shot simultaneously are morphed into a 360 degree cinematic image. They're believed to have also invented a threedimensional "blue screen" room for the upcoming films. This would allow characters to become more convincingly immersed in specialeffects environments.
"What the computer is letting us do is make movies in an environment where anything is possible," says Silver.


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MATRIX LEAVING SYDNEY
Source: <The Daily Telegraph>

The Daily Telegraph reports:

The $600 million film trilogy The Matrix will bid farewell to Sydney this month -- by landing a helicopter in Martin Place.
The mammoth production, which has brought at least $150 million revenue to Sydney, will shoot what its producer called "the most complicated sequence ever put on film" from Sunday. Although it is believed most of the second film in the series, The Matrix Reloaded (released May 2003), is set mainly in a computer-generated environment, Sydney will feature more prominently in the third film, Revolutions, due for release in November 2003.

The complicated sequence, in which a helicopter with a mounted camera flies below building height through the city, takes place on the following four Sunday afternoons. The helicopter will be based in Martin Place tomorrow and will cut a path through Pitt, Bridge and George Sts, Darling Harbour and towards North Sydney from next Sunday. Although there won't be any cameras, cast or extras on the ground, a number of city streets will be closed between 3.30pm and 6pm to vehicles and pedestrians. It is unlikely pedestrians will get close to the filming because of potential danger.

Joel Silver, producer for all three Matrix films, said: "We are thrilled with the co-operation and hospitality we have received from both the City of Sydney and the NSW State Government. "It's terrific that Sydney is so supportive of film-making on this scale."


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3 DISC MATRIX RELOADED DVD-SET
Source: <Coming Soon>

'David' sent some news to ComingSoon on the DVD of The Matrix Reloaded:

It sounds like you won't have to wait long after the release of The Matrix Reloaded (May 16, 2003) to see the first DVD set. This is probably because The Matrix Revolutions (November, 2003) opens the same year just months later...

"I read an article that might be of some interest. In Aus. magazine 'WHAT DVD' July 2002 edition. It tells of the DVD release of The Matrix Reloaded only 3 months after its theatre release in a 3 disc set that "includes The Matrix & The Matrix: Reloaded, but will also offer along with the usual nifty extras, the first look at The Matrix:Revolutions...with the DVD release of that film scheduled for release shortly after." In another 3 disc set."

We don't know whether or not The Matrix Reloaded will come out on a single DVD, since most Matrix fans already own the first movie. Matrixfansite.com hopes it's not just a smart move to cash in on the license...


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SHOOTING LOCATIONS
Source: <The Matrix Online>

The Matrix Online received some info on shooting locations:

Received advice from Matrix 2 Productions Pty Ltd on the production of the two sequels to the Matrix movie and filming they are undertaking in Pitt, Hunter, Castlereagh, O'Connell, Bridge and George Streets (Sydney, NSW, Australia) during the coming weeks.

Some filming for the sequels to the Matrix movie were carried out on Sunday, 21 April 2002 and unfortunately they did not complete the night component as it rained so they are scheduled to return on Tuesday, 2 July 2002 to film between 2200 hours (10 pm) and 0200 hours (2am on Wednesday, 3 July 2002).

As before, Pitt, Hunter and O'Connell Streets will be closed to through traffic for this period. The closure is for through traffic only so that any vehicle or person that has a need to, will be able to access the address of their concern - but they may be asked to wait for a maximum of five minutes before proceeding.

Furthermore, on Sunday, 14 July 2002 the producers will return to film an aerial sequence with a helicopter hovering in the vicinity of the Pitt, Hunter, O'Connell intersection followed by a fly-though Bridge and George Streets. Due to safety reasons they again need to close Pitt, Hunter, O'Connell, Bridge and sections of George Street from 1630 hours to 1800 hours (4.30 pm to 6 pm) for this activity - however, this time the streets will be completely closed to all vehicles and pedestrians for the period.

In addition to the above, filming in Castlereagh Street will be undertaken on the 7th, 8th and 9th of July as follows:

Sunday, 7 July 2002

Castlereagh Street will be closed to traffic from Hunter Street to King Street from 1530 hours to 1800 hours (3.30 pm to 6 pm).

Monday, 8 July 2002

Castlereagh Street will be closed to through traffic from Hunter Street to King Street from 2100 to 0300 hours (9 pm to 3 am) on the morning of Tuesday, 9 July 2002. The closure is for through traffic only during this period so that any vehicle or person that has a need to, will be able to access the address of their concern - but they may be asked to wait for a maximum of five minutes. Local traffic would then be able to reach their destination.

Tuesday, 9 July 2002

Castlereagh Street will be closed to through traffic from King Street to Park Street from 2100 to 0300 hours (9 pm to 3 am) on the morning of Wednesday, 10 July 2002. The closure is for through traffic only during this period so that any vehicle or person that has a need to, will be able to access the address of their concern - but they may be asked to wait for a maximum of five minutes. Local traffic would then be able to reach their destination.


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3D TEASER POSTER
Source: <The Official Site>

The official site posted the poster that can be seen in theaters from July 4th. It's a little different in real life though...:

"For those that have seen the just released teaser here at the site, it's true: the poster looks different in person. Why? Because of how it is printed. Instead of ordinary poster stock, this has a bottom layer of reflective foil. The result is a 3D like depth to the code. This is only the first teaser poster, so keep alert: more are coming. In the meantime, see a movie this weekend and take a few minutes to read some code. It's kind of cool to stare at."

You can view it <here>.

Some of the 3D posters are on offer on eBay and have already reached prices of $40,-. That's probably a record for a film poster on its first day of release...

In addition to the poster there are also three new interviews on the official site:

"Kym Barrett, Costume Designer for all three Matrix films, talks about working with Larry and Andy Wachowski, complications of costumes for stunts, and the comic book look of the film. Also, from the US camera crew, Kim Marks and Steven Buckingham, describe the challenges of working on The Matrix film set, from behind the camera."

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© 2002 Code 808